Wheelbarrow having auxiliary supporting frame



Get. 16, 1951 E. J. MCLEARY 2,571,595

WHEELBARROW HAVING AUXILIARY SUPPORTING FRAME Filed March 27, 1950 Gifcrucg Patented Oct. 16, 1951 WHEELBARROW HAVING AUXILIARY SUPPORTING FRAME Edward J. McLeary, Soap Lake, Wash.

Application March 27, 1950, Serial No. 152,029

2 Claims.

This mvenuon relates to a wheelbarrow and one object of the invention is to provide a wheelbarrow having a frame of such construction that the body of the wheelbarrow will be supported in a low, or under-slung position in which material can be easily loaded into or removed from the body.

Another object of the invention is to provide the wheelbarrow with a low-slung body having side walls which are removably mounted so that material may be very easily shoveled into or dumped from the body.

Another object of the invention is to provide a frame having side bars upon which the body rests and front and rear posts extending upwardly and serving as reinforcements for front and rear walls of the body.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wheelbarrow having a frame carrying a body braced by front and rear posts, there being an auxiliary frame which extends forwardly from the body in a horizontal position over the wheel at the front end of the frame and is substantially level with the upper edge of the front wall of the body so that the wheelbarrow may be loaded with bars or other articles having portions extending forwardly and resting upon the auxiliary frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide the, wheelbarrow with an auxiliary frame detachably carried by the front posts and supported by depending struts which are detachably secured at their lower ends so that the auxiliary framemay be removed when so desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide the wheelbarrow with handles having extensions which are in telescoping engagement with the handles and are releasably held in adjusted positions by latches and may be entirely removed from the handles if so desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide latches carried by resilient strips which are secured to the extensions and thus so mounted that they will be normally in position for entering openings in the handles and securing the extensions in set positions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wheelbarrow which is of light weight but very strong and may be subjected to rough use without likelihood of its being broken or otherwise damaged.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the improved wheelbarrow with one side wall removed.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the wheelbarrow shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing one of the handles and its extension in longitudinal section. a

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing the forward portion of the wheelbarrow in side elevation, a front post of its frame being shown partially in section.

Fig. 5 is a front view of the wheel and its sup port.

This improved wheelbarrow has a frame which is formed of metal tubes and has side bars I which are bent to form upwardly extending rear posts 2 and forwardly converging arms 3, up per portions of the post-forming portions of the tubes being bent rearwardly to form handles 4 in which longitudinally spaced openings 5 are formed. Tubes which are of the same length as the rear posts are welded to the side bars I at rear ends of the arms 3 to form front posts 6 and in order to prevent the side bars and the handles from moving transversely out of proper spaced relation to each other there have been provided bracing bars I mounted between the side bars at lower ends of the front and rear posts and a brace 9 extending between upper ends of the rear posts and welded at the junction of the rear posts with front ends of the handles 4.

A wheel I0 is provided at the front of the wheelbarrow, and this wheel has its axle ll mounted in bearings l2 which are formed of cast metal and have their shanks l3 fitted into front ends of the arms 3 and secured by rivets M. This wheel has been shown equipped with a pneumatic tire but it will be understood that any type of wheel may be used. Since the arms '3 extend forwardly at an upward incline the side bars of the frame and a body carried thereby will be supported close to the ground and the body may be referred to as having an under-slung supporting frame.

The body I5 is formed of sheet metal, or other suitable material, and has a bottom 16, front and rear walls H and I8 and side walls 19. The front and rear walls are formed integral with the bot. tom by bending upwardly end portions of a metal sheet forming the bottom and these walls, and along upper portions of side edges of the front and rear walls are mounted cleats 2|) formed from short strips of channeled metal of such width that when the side walls are set in place their front and rear edge portions will fit snugly into the cleats and removably hold the side walls in place. When the wheelbarrow is being loaded rear ends of the side bars I rest upon the ground, thus disposing the body close to the ground so that when a wide wall is removed heavy articles may be readily lifted into the body and the wheelbarrow loaded with a minimum of effort by a workman. This also allows a side wall to be removed and the wheelbarrow then easily tilted transversely to dump material out of the body.

In order that the bars and other articles of greater length than the-body may be disposed longitudinally thereof and firmly supported with portions projecting forwardly from the front wall there has been provided an auxiliary frame 2| which projects forwardly from the body over the wheel ID. This auxiliary frame is also formed of metal tubing and has a bridge 22 at its front end from which extend side arms 23, the side arms being braced against transverse movement out of desired rearwardly diverging relation to each other by a cross bar or brace 24. Elbows 25 carry stems 26, and referring to Figure 4 will be seen that each elbow has one of its stems fitting snugly into the rear end portion of a side arm 23 and secured by rivets 21 and its other stem extending downwardly and removably fitted into the upper end portion of a front post 6. Struts 28 which are welded to the side arms 23 extend downwardly therefrom at an inward incline and at their lower ends are provided with ears 29 having shanks 30 which are fitted into the struts and secured by rivets 3|. These ears 29 overlap companion ears 32 projecting upwardly from the bearings l2 and through the overlapping ears are passed bolts 33 equipped with winged nuts so that the nuts may be easily tightened or loosened. When the bolts are removed the ears 29 are freed from the ears 32 and the auxiliary frame may then be lifted and removed and put away until again needed. The auxiliary frame and the bracing bar 9 are in a plane above upper edges of the front and rear walls of the body. Therefore when bars of greater length than the body are loaded upon the wheelbarrow, their front end portions may rest upon the auxiliary frame and their rear portions bear upon the bracing bar 9 and the weight of the bars loaded upon the wheelbarrow will not bend, crack, or otherwise damage the walls of the body.

When the wheelbarrow is loaded with very heavy material or with bars which project rearwardly from the body the handles 4 may not be of sufiicient length to allow them to be readily grasped and the wheelbarrow tilted upwardly and pushed forwardly. Therefore the handles are equipped with extensions 34. These extensions are formed from metal tubes of such diameter that they fit snugly intothe tubular handles and of such length that when they are in the retracted position their rear portions project from the handles a sufficient distance to allow them to be grasped and drawn outwardly. Each extension is formed near its front or inner end with an opening 35. A spring strip 36 extends longitudinally in the forward portion of the extension and has its rear end secured by a rivet 31 or welded to the extension. At its front end the resilient strip carries a tooth or lug 38 which has a rounded upper end and readily moves into the openings of the handle when the extension is shifted longitudinally to an extended or retracted position. It will thus be seen that the spring strips and their lugs form latches by means of which the extensions are releasably held in adjusted positions. While the rounded ends of the lugs permit them to readily enter the openings 4 it is necessary to apply pressure to their outer ends in order to force them iriwardly out of the openings when the extensions are to be shifted longitudinally. Therefore the extensions will not accidently move longitudinally from one position to another.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A wheelbarrow comprising a frame having side bars provided with upwardly extending front and rear posts and handles extending rearwardly from the rear posts, said side bars having portions extending forwardly from the front posts and constituting arms converging forwardly, a bracing bar mounted between upper ends of said rear posts, a bracing bar mounted between said side bars at lower ends of said front posts, bearings carried by front ends of said arms, a wheel rotatably mounted between said bearings, ears extending upwardly from said bearingsat opposite sides of said wheel, an auxiliary frame over said wheel having a bridge at its front-end and side arms extending rearwardly therefrom, couplings carrying forwardly extending stems secured in rear portions of side arms and downwardly extending stems removably fitting into upper ends of the front posts, props extending downwardly from said side bars and overlapping said ears, and bolts passing through the overlapping portions of the ears and the props and having wing nuts tightened to detachably hold the props connected with said ears.

2. A wheelbarrow comprising a frame including side bars having front and rear posts, said side bars having portions extending forwardly from the front posts and constituting arms, bearings carried by front ends of said arms, a wheel rotatably mounted between said bearings, ears extending upwardly from said bearings at opposite sides of said wheel, an auxiliary frame over said wheel having side arms detachably connected with upper ends of the front posts, props extending downwardly from the side bars of the auxiliary frame and overlapping the ears, and bolts passing through the overlapping portions of the ears and the props and detachably holding the props connected with the ears.

EDWARD J. MCLEARY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 638,106 Freed Nov. 28, 1899 1,204,652 Craft Nov. 14, 1916 2,129,316 Cramer et a1. Sept. 6, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 249,531 France May 1, 1948. 

